Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

You can’t have a true education without following your heart.  It does not matter how you do it:  reading, fixing things whatever it is.  Your heart vibrates when you listen to that tiny voice.  Sure there are things in life you have to do even if you do not like the task but there has to be things you love doing.  Otherwise you wither inside, die a little each day.  So find what that little voice is asking you to do.  You can change the world by doing the things only you can do.  Each person is unique and has things only they can do.  And of course there will be resistance.  You have to work through that.  Only you know what is stirring in your heart.  The world will be a better place after you leave it.  Explore the portion that is yours to mine.  So answer your calling.

Tags: answer your calling, change the world, each person is unique, education, follow your heart, learning, serendipity, tiny voice
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Why education is so messed up.  I never forgot one dean of a top private university.  He was somewhat unusual:  he was for students who were diagnosed as having an handicap.  I was diagnosed as such for I did not learn as many other students did.  90 per cent of classes are taught by lecture.  I did not learn that way:  thus I was considered handicapped.  I thought that was absurd.  It was education fit all one size.  No wonder public education sucks.  Everyone is taught and expected to fit the mold.  I never studied styles of learning.  Nevertheless, I know there are many people like me and I know without a doubt 90 per cent of the students do not learn by lecture but are forced to.  I did not realize for decades why I could not succeed in school (higher education that is).  It was not my fault.  I was a kinetic learner.  I learned by doing and my own observations.  I did not learn by someone telling me what I should know.  By the time I realized this it was too late.  I thought I was stupid.  The damage was done.

Tags: dean, education, handicap, higher education, kinetic learner, learn by doing, learn by observation, learning style, lecture, stupid, university
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Can you separate religion and morality from politics? I don’t think so. Every action a politician makes or thinks about reflects some kind of value. You have to be driven by something.

Nothing you do or say is (???) can be done in a vacuum so trying to say you can is impossible. There are politics in every sphere of life—government, the church, the family and education.

It is impossible to say you can do something without reflecting some kind of value so telling a politician you have to separate religion and your deepest values from the actions you make or say is impossible.

Religion and morality can not be separated they are intertwined in a person’s character. No one acts in a void.

Tags: education, family, government, morality, no one acts in a void, politician, politics, politics in every sphere of life, religion, religion and morality, the church, your actions, your values
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Some people get educated despite themselves.  Education is not an end point but a process.  The literal translation of the word education means to lead toward.  It is not a degree and is on going.

And it is true:  some people do get educated despite themselves but most of the time it is a journey.  There is really no point you have arrived which is not to say a piece of parchment is not an accomplishment.  It is.  But don’t stop there.

I could never understand people who get degrees and stop reading.  And an education is not simply books.  It is the process of learning during your life.  It never stops.

Some of the wisest people have no degrees.  It is all about learning.  And learning is not always in books.  We need carpenters and mechanics and plumbers.  In fact, there is a shortage of these people.

Whatever you do, do it with your whole heart.  In Thoreau’s words, ‘Let living be thy sport (from Walden).’

Tags: 'let living be thy sport', a journey, books, do with your whole heart, education, learning, learning during your life, reading, Thoreau, to lead toward, Walden, wisest people
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For a long time there were two forms of education I was undergoing:  one, my formal education and the other, the education I was receiving on my own.

All during my schooling I continued to read what I wanted to, whatever came across my path, whatever interested me.  As far back as I can remember I had a library card to the local library and made many trips there.  At home we always had plenty of reading material–magazines and books everywhere.

I did do my school work and received good grades but I had no illusion:  my independent reading was far more important and really my true education.

Yes, it is true some people get educated despite themselves but I always found the time to read whatever came across me and whatever interested me.  I felt most of the time I just went through the motions in most subjects in school.

There were some subjects that interested me particularly in school like Latin and mathematics and biology.  And maybe, I put forth extra effort there.

If the truth be known I was far more interested in participating in gym and in high school playing for the tennis team.  In fact, I was excited that in high school we had gym every day.

I felt these sports instilled an attitude to never give up until the game is over, which was no small lesson to learn which stood me well later in life.

I no longer go to school but I still read widely and for pleasure.  The literal translation of the word “education” comes from the Latin “educare” which means to lead.  Education means “to lead toward”.  It is a process, not an end point, not a degree.  It is an unending journey.  And I am still on it.

Tags: biology, books, college degree, education, education is a process, formal education, game is over, go to school, good grades, gym class, high school, Latin, Latin word educare, lessons, library, library card, magazines, mathematics, never give up, read for pleasure, reading, reading material, school subjects, school work, schooling, sports, tennis team, to lead toward, true education, unending journey
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I don’t have to be ashamed when I don’t know something.  I used to be but no longer.  I think of the passage from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous essay “Self- Reliance”:  ‘There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance’…

When you are ashamed of what you don’t know you are comparing yourself to someone else.  I had to accept who I was, whatever my portion of knowledge I possessed and go on from there.

Comparing myself to someone else just got in the way.  I had to accept who I was.  There would always be others who knew more and conversely who knew less.

My body of knowledge started off with me, whatever my limitations and that was the way it was.  Envy, which had turned  into shame, just got in the way.  Every time I read those lines of Emerson’s I could relax.  I no longer had to be ashamed of what I did not know.

Tags: accept who I was, ashamed, comparing myself, comparing yourself to someone else, don't know something, education, envy is ignorance, envy turned into shame, essay, knowledge, limitations, Ralph Waldo Emerson, relax, Self-Reliance
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